Lubbock Man Explains Controversial Flag

By Jayme Lozano

When a flag with Arabic writing was hung from Citizens Tower in downtown Lubbock on Feb. 15, many people feared what it meant.

Nicolas Lopez/The Hub@TTU

Citizens Tower has been called an eye sore by many Lubbockites. Nicolas Lopez/The Hub@TTU

But the message was not intended to scare Lubbock residents at all. It simply said, “Love is for all.” Mayor Glen Robertson asked for the flag to be reported to Homeland Security, the FBI and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office. The flag was quickly cut down by police.

Kyle Holub, a 22-year-old art student at South Plains College, was arrested for the display on Feb. 17 and charged with criminal trespassing.

While some people found his display to be a bad prank or a way to frighten people, Richard Green, a close friend of Holub’s, said that was not the intention.

“To me, it was about impressions,” Green said. “You see black and white and you think terror, but it wasn’t about terror, it was the exact opposite.”

Holub and Green developed a friendship seven years ago at work based on mutual interests, including art. When Holub told Green about his idea, Green said he wanted to help paint it because it gave him a voice.

“I try to participate in the arts; just because I’m homeless doesn’t mean I can’t contribute,” Green said. “The fact that I got to help, to me, it was a metaphor for homelessness. We’re here, you don’t see us, or you see us and put fear in your head. That was my motivation behind it.”

Richard Green posted this picture of himself with Kyle Holub a few days after the incident, with the caption "I did it #loveforeveryone."

Richard Green posted this picture of himself with Kyle Holub on Facebook a few days after the incident, with the caption “I did it #loveforeveryone.”

Green said they chose to use Arabic language because they wanted to show people it is just another language. However, Green was not surprised by the response it received.

“Innate fears of things they don’t understand, that you automatically reject without investigation, was kind of what we were proving,” Green said. “A lot of people said it was terrorists, but no, if you see the big heart and translate it, there’s nothing terroristic about it.”

According to David Villarreal, the director of the Language Laboratory and Research Center at Texas Tech University, fear of what the flag meant stems from recent acts of terrorism associated with ISIS.

“I think with the state of where we’re at right now with ISIS and the attacks that they have done, people are uneasy about anything that’s foreign to them,” Villarreal said. “I think that’s why the mayor reacted to it the way that he did. When you don’t know what’s going on and you’re responsible for protecting the city, you probably want to take those precautions.”

Villarreal said that had the flag been painted in a different languagesuch as Spanish, which is spoken widely in Lubbock the outcome would have been different.

“I think there would still be somebody charged with trespassing, but the public outcry would have been completely different,” Villarreal said. “They perceived it as anti-American and that’s the way they see Arabic. And a lot of it, I think, is due to the media.”

“I think it sheds light on the fact that we need to learn more about the world around us.”

While Villarreal thinks the response would be different if a similar situation happened again, he says the event was an eye-opener.

“I think it sheds light on the fact that we need to learn more about the world around us,” Villarreal said. “The fact is, this is a global world we live in, and we need to learn about other countries, other people, other languages, and other cultures.”

While Holub is eager to tell his side of the story, he has decided to wait until after court proceedings have concluded.

“I will definitely give an interview,” Holub said. “But my lawyer and I want to get a little further in the process first so they don’t punish me too harshly.”

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